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Be creative with white chocolate cheesecake

I split the batter in thirds and added to each strawberries, passion fruit and blueberries, then served them all as a cheesecake tasting plate.

White chocolate cheesecake

There are so many versions of cheesecake. Everybody has their own preference. Me, I prefer one that is quick to make, delicious and extremely versatile. This recipe is just the platform. It’s the “choose your own adventure” kind of cheesecake. It can be served as is or you can add flavors and mix it up.

As this is a gelatin set dessert, be aware of ingredients that prohibit it from setting, including ginger, kiwi and pineapple.

It’s not just the taste that you can alter to make this dish unique, it’s the shape and presentation as well. I used silicone moulds to create the dome look. Instead of graham cracker base, I used unflavored pop rocks. It’s all about your interpretation and vision. I just hope this helps to get you there.

Ingredients:

1 cup cream

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese

2 teaspoons gelatin

3 tablespoons cold water

1 cup white chocolate morsels

Additional flavors:

1 cup washed strawberries

1 cup washed blueberries

1/2 cup passion fruit pulp

1 cup sugar

Directions:

Place cold water in a bowl and sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom and become sponge like.

Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottom pot over low-medium heat, add cream and white chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted, is fully incorporated and smooth.

Once the gelatin has bloomed, add it to the cream mixture and stir in completely until it has dissolved and again, is fully incorporated.

Add the cream cheese to the cream mixture, remove from heat and stir until it is all mixed in.

This mixture can be poured into moulds, set in the fridge and, in a few hours, voila, white chocolate cheesecake. Or, this is where your creativity comes into play.

In a food processor, blend strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar (this is one way of making coulis; once blended and strained, use it to garnish any desserts; keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge).

Over medium heat in small sauce pan, warm mixture until just warm, stirring constantly. (The reason we heat the fruit is because some fruit contain the enzyme bromelain, which prevents gelatin from setting. By heating the fruit, we kill the enzyme, allowing the gelatin to set as usual.)

In a separate bowl, add 1/3 of the cheesecake batter and the strawberry coulis and mix well, place in desired moulds and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Repeat this method with the remaining cheesecake batter and two other fruits.

Garnish option:

I used pop rocks as my base but if you prefer something more traditional, place a handful of graham crackers in a food processor and blend till they are crumbs.

Place the set cheesecakes on a plate and spoon the desired amount of graham cracker crumbs, garnish with fruit and enjoy.